BATON ROUGE — Former LSU star Ryan Theriot earned a World Series ring Friday night when the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers, 6-2, in Game 7 at Busch Stadium.
Theriot, a second baseman who played at LSU from 1999-2001, batted .271 in 132 games for the Cardinals during the regular season with 26 doubles, one triple, one homer, 47 RBI and 46 runs scored.
The Baton Rouge native appeared in 12 postseason games, including five in the World Series. He delivered a crucial RBI Thursday night during the Cardinals’ dramatic 10th-inning rally in Game 6.
LSU has had former players win World Series titles in each of the past two seasons. Relief ace Brian Wilson and infielder Mike Fontenot helped lead the San Francisco Giants to the 2010 championship in five games over the Rangers.
Seven other former LSU Tigers have played for World Series championship teams, beginning in 1954 when infielder Alvin Dark helped lead the New York Giants to the title. Twenty years later, Dark managed the Oakland Athletics to the ’74 World Series championship.
Theriot, a member of LSU’s 2000 College World Series championship team, becomes the third former Tiger to win both a CWS and a World Series during their playing careers. Fontenot also played for LSU’s 2000 CWS champions and left-hander Eddie Yarnall, a member of the New York Yankees’ World Series champions in 1999 and 2000, pitched for the Tigers’ 1996 CWS title club.
Following are LSU Tigers who played for World Series championship teams:
MLB World Series Champions from LSU
INF Alvin Dark, New York Giants – 1954 (player); Oakland Athletics – 1974 (manager)
1B Joe Bill Adcock, Milwaukee Braves – 1957
LHP Mark Guthrie, Minnesota Twins – 1991
LHP Eddie Yarnall, New York Yankees – 1999 and 2000 (College World Series champion at LSU in 1996)
LHP Randy Keisler, New York Yankees – 2000
RHP Russ Springer, Arizona Diamondbacks – 2001
RHP Curtis Leskanic, Boston Red Sox – 2004
RHP Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants – 2010
INF Mike Fontenot, San Francisco Giants – 2010 (College World Series champion at LSU in 2000)
2B Ryan Theriot, St. Louis Cardinals – 2011 (College World Series champion at LSU in 2000)